My reviews of TV shows and movies

Lone Survivor

My husband, who served our first year of marriage overseas in Iraq, tried to watch this movie and a little while later gave it back to me, his hand shaking almost imperceptibly. He said he couldn’t take it because it was all so terribly realistic, even down to the sound each type of gun makes. I understood, but since I’ve had the luxury never to serve in the military, I was doubly excited to watch what I now knew to be an authentic look at a mission gone sideways and it did not disappoint. The story is streamlined from what really happened but the feel of it is unchanged, rich with details to the point that you can almost smell it. It is hard to watch because these characters represent real people and when they get killed, you can’t shrug it away as just being fictitious. It’s often said real life isn’t like the movies, but in this case, the movie allows you to be a silent observer as you watch real people do their job and serve their country to the best of their ability. I have tremendous respect for the Armed Forces and think this does justice to an unenviable situation in the ongoing Islam vs. The West war. It is easy to think everyone in that part of the world is evil, but the reality is a whole lot more complicated. Some of the characters portrayed here remind me of a story my husband told me. A little boy, maybe 5 years old, walked all night through the desert with no shoes just to tell the Americans there was an IED buried in the road leading out of their Forward Operating Base, and my husband’s Stryker would have been the first one to roll over it the next morning. Everybody chipped in and the boy went back home with enough money to buy a ridiculous number of shoes as well as a pretty doll for his sister I had sent earlier for my husband to give away. He had a million stories about the children and so enjoyed giving out boxes of crayons, toys, Play-Doh, and other goodies I sent him. Things like this don’t tend to make the news, but they should and I’m glad I got to see this particular story told well. I hope it gives comfort to the families that now the whole world shares their sorrow and pride for those they have lost. – BETHANY

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